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21 July 2017

Ostriches are the only animals in the world to have a double-kneecap, but its purpose remains an evolutionary mystery. PhD student, Ms Sophie Regnault, from the Royal Veterinary College, UK says "understanding more about different kneecap configurations in different animals could help to inform prosthesis design, surgical interventions, and even robots with better joints."

21 July 2017

When dinosaurs ruled the land, plesiosaurs ruled the oceans. Famous for their incredibly long necks - some of which were up to 7 metres long - plesiosaurs have remained an evolutionary mystery for hundreds of years. Pernille V. Troelsen, a PhD student at Liverpool John Moores University, UK is simulating plesiosaur locomotion with a 3D model to understand how they could swim with such long necks.

21 July 2017

A new scorpion-milking robot designed to extract venom could replace the traditional manual method. Scorpion venom is used in medical applications such as immunosuppressants, anti-malarial drugs and cancer research, but the extraction process can be potentially life-threatening.

21 July 2017

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure can cause DNA damage and may be one of the contributing factors in the global amphibian extinction crisis. New research from Prof Craig Franklin and a team of researchers from The University of Queensland, Australia shows how tadpoles living at low temperatures are more at risk of DNA damage than previously thought.